Dec 13, 2004 08:20 AM
1962 Views
(Updated Feb 01, 2005 08:00 AM)
Stars: Vin Diesel, Alexa Davalos, Judi Dench
Four years after the surprise packet that was, ''Pitch Black'', Vin Diesel (Pitch Black) reprises his role as Richard Riddick, the quintessential anti-hero who led two survivors, a young girl & a holy man, from the bowels of a planet overcome with rapacious predators. In, ''The Chronicles Of Riddick'', some $40,000,000 has been added to the budget of the first film, & promotion has sky-rocketed.
In spite of this, a new direction which the piece is taken that in no way resembles the plot of the original, distinctly fails to impress. The Chronicles Of Riddick tries to merge, ''Star Wars'' with, ''Gladiator'' & misses badly on both marks. The scripting here ranges from the far-fetched to the utterly awful, & the acting by & large falls far short of it's predecessor. Director David Twohy, who did a fine job previously, seems reticent here, unable to capitalise on a groundswell of potential created by Pitch Black. The result is a sequel that blends forgettably into the mire of action films big on effects but low on substance.
To be fair, The Chronicles Of Riddick has it's share of excitement, & Diesel, with his imposing physique & distinctly dry voice, is as good as he was in the initial foray. But Keith David (Pitch Black), who was excellent as Imam in the original, is wasted here, as is the accomplished Judi Dench (The Shipping News).
What separated Pitch Black from the pack was it's focus on characters & not effects. Here, however, there is little to scrape together beyond some admittedly impressive visuals. There's really no excuse here for Twohy --- he had three times the operating budget of the forerunner & established acting talents. One can only hope that a possible third installment can restore credibility to a not-yet dead franchise.
